Klimaskam - i et affektteoretisk, liberalfilosofisk og poststrukturalistisk perspektiv

Abstract

This bachelor thesis seeks an understanding of the phenomenon ecological shame (or eco-shame) by exploring theoretical perspectives on the emotional dimension of climate change. Furthermore, this paper investigates whether or not eco-shame promotes climate-friendly behavior. The theoretical perspectives are presented by Sara Ahmed, Martha Craven Nussbaum and Michel Foucault. The Anthropocene age underlines how human beings have an impact on the climate changes. This causes emotional reactions such as shame and fear. In this thesis, I focus exclusively on shame, because of its presence in popular cultural media. By seeking an understanding of both the emotional response to climate change, in this case eco-shame, and its effects, eventually we will be able to demonstrate how to encourage mankind to change into climate-friendly behavior. This paper both contains a constructive and destructive understanding of eco-shame, and so it offers both a changeable and non-changeable view of behavioral responses to eco-shame. This paper contains an analysis of Michel Foucault’s perspective on eco-shame as a technology of the self that enables one to be recognized as a climate-friendly subject, both by the subject itself and others. He offers an understanding of a dynamic subject, who is able to become more climate-friendly by undergoing a change. This dynamic subject represents the basis of this bachelor thesis, from where two divergent theoretical perspectives on shame are explored, represented by Ahmed and Nussbaum. They offer respectively a non-cognitivistic and a cognitivistic view on emotions, which entail two very different understandings of eco-shame and what its effects might be. They differ from each other in whether or not they include a focus on intrasubjective dispositions, such as consciousness, in their conceptualization of emotions. Ahmed contributes to the investigation with a constructive and noncognitivistic perspective in form of collective (eco-)shame by introducing concepts of affective economies and sticky emotions. Nussbaum has a destructive and cognitivistic perspective of ecoshame by offering concepts such as eudaimonistic emotions and primitive shame. This bachelor thesis suggests that a further study of eco-shame includes a focus on the value-actiongap as well as collecting empirical material in forms of qualitative interviews. By doing so this paper’s theoretical assumptions will seek empirical support and strengthen its theoretical claims.

Bedømmelse: 12